‘Get home safely,’ she said. ‘There’s a storm coming. And come more often – we miss you.’ She opened the front door and a hot wind blew in, smacking our faces. ‘What a hideous night.’

We drove half the journey without seeing a single other car on the roads. Maud wound down the window and let her hand trail outside.

‘It’s like an oven in here,’ she said.

‘It’s an oven out there too.’

‘I think I’ll have a nice cold bath when we get in.’

‘Bulawayo won’t thank you.’

‘I can draw the water myself.’ She paused. ‘How’s Lucy?’

‘Fine.’

‘Are you still seeing her?’

‘When I’m in Nairobi.’

I looked at her profile. Her expression was neutral, but I’d caught the warning in her tone. Maud always seemed to know when I was doing something I should be ashamed of, I thought, and promised myself I’d spend more time on Lucy soon.

She met my eye. ‘Mr Cartwright – he’s political, isn’t he?’

‘I don’t know what he does. I always assumed he was an engineer, and that’s how he knew Father.’

‘Theo – I want to take on Freddie.’

‘How so?’

‘I don’t know. I can’t stand for election, but maybe you could? We could run against his ideas – stop them before they snowball.’

‘I’d be no good, Spanish. Anyway, are you sure you’re not taking this too personally, because of your … relationship?’

She blinked. ‘Please, Theo – I’m asking for help.’

I opened my mouth to speak then a black shape darted out into the road and I braked sharply, pitching us forwards. The shape continued running, through the light cast by the headlamps and into the thicket on the other side of the road.

‘What was that?’ Maud asked, rubbing her elbow.

‘A deer.’

‘They don’t normally run in front of cars.’

‘Must have been escaping from something.’

‘Look.’ She grasped my arm. ‘Coming out onto the road now.’

Another shape was slinking out of the bushes, grey and mysterious in the shadows. It stopped just before the beam of our headlights, turned towards us, and I saw the tawny, rosette-spotted skull of a leopard.

‘What’s it doing?’ Maud whispered.

The leopard let out a low growl. I felt the hairs on my body stand up in response.

‘Drive,’ Maud urged me.

I reached over and flicked off the headlights.

‘Theo, no –’

The leopard started moving in our direction, shoulders coiling and uncoiling with each step. Sweat dripped down my temples. It stopped just next to my door. At this distance I could see the pink of its tongue push up against its yellow fangs, and the wrinkle at the top of its nose as the face set into a snarl although no sound came out.

‘Now we can’t see it,’ Maud said, moving further away from her window. ‘Theo, I’m –’